Is song a superstimulus for language learning? An interventional study

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The importance of providing infants with a rich language environment within the family home is well known. Studies on shared book reading, and those using LENA technology reveal a clear relationship between the amount and quality of language that the infant hears, and their subsequent competencies in understanding and forming speech sounds. However, increasing the amount of spontaneous verbal interaction that occurs within parent-infant dyads is challenging. A promising route to increasing an infants exposure to language is through infant-directed singing. Language embedded within song is attentionally engaging and, we propose that if parents are supported to increase the amount of song singing they do with their infants at home, we will see significant improvement in language outcomes, measured longitudinally. Partnering with the award-winning Baby College Ltd, we will work towards a single blind randomized control trial to determine whether a programme of regular weekly classes for parent/infant dyads, tailored towards building awareness of the importance of singing for language development, as well as increasing parents' confidence and building their repertoire of songs to use in everyday life will result in significantly improved language comprehension relative to a group of dyads who will be randomly allocated to engage in a similar programme of classes focussing on physical play.